


Trust

by Doug48



Series: Zoo 1.1 [8]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: F/M, Legal Drama, Police Procedural
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-07-15 19:07:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16069412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doug48/pseuds/Doug48
Summary: Officer Judy Hopps is promoted because she's the very model of what Bogo wants the ZPD to be [and what it should be], but there are some members of the ZPD that aren't.





	1. Listening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There has been an unfortunate situation, and Supervising Officer Judy Hopps has been called to make sense of it.

“Bravo 11, request for supervising officer at 101 Main St. 10-32 Shots fired, subject down, possible 10-15.”

Officer Judy Hopps has been a supervisor for only a few months and she still gets excited when she gets a call like this. This is what she was born to do, not farming like her brothers or popping out children like her sisters!

101 Main turns out to be a family run store. In this case, it's a family of otters; the kind of place that sells pretty much anything to people who live nearby or take a bus. Judy had recently been told that places like this were not, in fact, all 'bodegas' as she had thought. 

The crime scene tape is already up, the scene of crime (SOC) guys are already at work, and she can see a body on the sidewalk, as she arrives. She can also see a crowd of agitated citizens, probably locals who have done business here in the past. The body is a young male wolf, and there are several wolves in the crowd, but apparently no family members. 

As usual, she gets out of her cruiser and stops to listen. The responding officers, McDermitt and Bison, are standing quietly near their own cruiser. The locals are talking normally, and it doesn’t sound like any of them actually saw anything useful. Officer McDermitt is a wolf, and his partner is a buffalo. Both are males. 

The responding officers know her, so she doesn’t introduce herself as she passes under the tape and approaches them. “What happened?”

McDermitt scowls when he sees the small rabbit officer. Hopps had heard through unofficial channels that the wolf thinks he should have been promoted instead of a mere rabbit because he's been a cop longer. ‘Probably would have been if he would have worked harder,’ she thought, not for the first time.

Bison turns fully toward the rabbit and responds. “Saw the perp,” he gestures at the dead body, “as soon as we arrived. He saw us and started to run. I told him to stop and he turned around with a gun in his paw. I shot him.” Bison's arms are away from his body and his paws are open. 

The officer sounded like he had rehearsed what he was going to say. He was very calm, even when he admitted shooting the wolf. ‘And he called the victim a perp, so he probably thinks of the dead wolf as a criminal, and not some mammal's son or brother, at least in his own mind,’ Officer Hopps thought. ‘Did they decide he was guilty before or after they saw the gun?’ 

Hopps turned to McDermitt. “Did you also see the weapon?”

“Yes, of course I saw it. I’m not blind,” The wolf officer replied sarcastically. One does not address a supervisor like that in the ZPD, but she tries to ignore his tone for the moment.

“When did you see it?” She asked. "Were you not blind the entire time?" She might have worded that differently, but she didn’t believe she could let herself appear to get pushed around on an official call like this. 

The canid bunched his fists and took a step forward, but his partner put a hoof on the wolf’s shoulder. After a moment, McDermitt calmed down.

“I saw the gun when the perp turned around. We both saw the weapon at the same time,” Officer McDermitt said.

“The gun. Which paw was it in?” The rabbit asked. 

The buffalo answered, “the right,” but the rabbit was watching the wolf. 

McDermitt didn’t say anything. His paws were no longer clenched into fists and his fingers were not moving or touching his legs. Judy wondered what he was thinking. 'Maybe he was simply not paying attention to the question?' Judy thought she could hear him subvocalizing some sort of calming mantra. 

“Did you discuss what you were going to say when a supervisor like me arrived? What you are going to say on the report?” Hopps asked. She was trying to sound calm, but was finding herself getting angry. ‘A citizen is dead, and these two apparently have no remorse,’ she thought.

Which might be understandable. Male cops in the ZPD don’t believe they can show emotions, like sorrow for example, so they bottle it up and sometimes displace it with anger; that might be what these two are doing. Supervising Officer Hopps would not do it that way, but her male partner, fox Officer Wilde, might. ‘I’ll have to discuss it with him later,’ she thought. 

“Yeah. So?” Bison replied. He was much calmer, and probably smarter. He knew not to argue; to just answer the questions as briefly, and with as few details that might be forgotten in later statements, as possible. 

“So that’s all I have for now. Stay here,” she told them. She didn’t want the watching citizens to think the ZPD was going to try to hide anything by letting these officers leave. It would not look good. Also, Hopps was not going to be the only officer to question McDermitt and Bison. Her boss, Lieutenant Fang, was also on his way.

The rabbit went to see the scene of crime [SOC] guys. “Tell me what you found?” She asked the nearest one. This is SOC Warric, and they have worked together before. He doesn’t like to waste time with small talk. 

“Pretty much what I expect they told you,” the deer replied, gesturing with his antlers toward Bison and McDermitt. “Dead wolf. ID in the wallet says Ian Flem, 16 years of age. Gun. Small amount of drugs in a pocket in a clear plastic bag. No holster for the weapon, but that’s not much of a surprise. Weapon is a 32 caliber short barreled revolver. Not a very expensive weapon and doesn’t smell like it’s been used or cleaned recently.” The gun and the drugs were already in clear plastic evidence bags and labeled, and the body had been covered with an opaque sheet. 

The deer showed the weapon to the rabbit. “Somebody used to store it in a holster. This,” he pointed to some residue on the side, “was scraped off the last time they drew the weapon, probably when the kid got it, and probably not long ago,” Warric said. “It’s not very firmly attached.”

“Thanks,” the rabbit said, turning away. She thought a moment. The store owner had not actually been robbed. The assailant, possibly a wolf, had apparently run away when he or she had heard the police siren.

Officer Hopps talked to the store owner, but he was too terrified to be helpful. He had dialed 911 to summon police, but now declined to look at the body on the ground outside, and only said, “wolf” when asked who had tried to rob him. She wasn’t sure if the otter was talking about the robber or the dead teenager because the otter kept his muzzle turned toward the sidewalk outside where the body was. 

Judy knew the otter was an immigrant from Nova Ferocia, and he trembled periodically. ‘That’s probably due to the crime,’ she thought. ‘I hope it’s not because of the way he sees the ZPD.’ 

She went back outside to wait for Fang.

“Cops just killed him. Cold blood. Wasn’t even armed,” she heard, and turned toward the crowd. They saw the quick movement, and one or two smaller mammals flinched at her intense glare. The larger mammals, including an elephant, did not move; they could tell she wasn’t looking at them anyway. 

“What was that?” She asked, sounding harsh. Then she repeated the question, trying to sound less angry.

The crowd shifted and no one replied for a few seconds, but she knew who it was by now. It was a weasel, and he stood his ground as the mammals between him and the rabbit parted.

“I said, he wasn’t armed.” Officer Hopps stared at him a moment, thinking about that day on the bridge when Nick Wilde had reacted in a similar way when interrogated by Chief Bogo.

“Are you willing to go on record? We will-”

“Fox that. I’m gone. I say something like that in front of more cops, and I’ll get a visit by some blue uniforms and spend time in a hospital,” he said.

Supervising Officer Judy Hopps stood and stared as the weasel turned and left. The other mammals nearby milled about, and several expressed a kind of muted agreement. It was clear that they didn't like what had happened, and equally clear that they weren't sure what to do about it.

Hopps looked up at the taller ones and then around at the shorter ones nearby. “There’s a gun and responding officers are within their rights to use deadly force in these situations. If they believe their lives are in danger.” 'If,' she thought to herself, but was very careful NOT to say out loud. 

Nobody replied. The citizens looked at each other, and some of them left. The ones that stayed did not meet her eyes. Most of these had not seen anything, and were clearly just here so they could tell their friends what little they knew. 

“Dumb little bunny believed us,” she heard, and spun around. It was McDermitt, and she saw the look of annoyance on Bison’s face change to fear when he saw the rabbit turn around. McDermitt’s face showed confusion, and then fear, when he realized he had been over heard.


	2. Inquiry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A cop has been accused by another cop, so Chief Bogo has to do something about it. In this case, he'll have a public airing of the facts. He thinks he has nothing to hide, after all.

Lieut. Fang arrived an hour later, and talked to Officer Hopps. He was first confused, and then annoyed, shocked, and finally furiously angry. Hopps never considered that he could be furious at her, even though she later heard him mutter under his breath, “why did she have to hear that?” Hopps wondered about that also, but her duty was clear. She had to inform her supervisor so Ian Flem’s family would have justice. There could be no other course of action. 

*********************************

“So, Carrots, how was your day?” Officer Nick Wilde asked. 

Several days had passed, and the fox and the rabbit were doing their usual after work dinner at The Watering Hole. Nick sometimes called it a date and so Judy was waiting for him to invite her to his den after dinner. For his part, Nick was wondering why Judy had not yet given him the go ahead signal that all foxes knew meant she wanted to receive such an invitation. 

“Har har. You know perfectly well,” she replied.

“Any problems with our coworkers?” Nick asked. He already knew, of course. He had had several incidents of his own already, and had told at least one of them where, precisely, that coworker could put his opinions.

“Not really,” she replied. “They are as upset about Bison and McDermitt as I am. It is going to take them some time to wrap their heads around it.”

‘Or wrap their heads around the first bunny cop betraying two of their fellow officers,’ Nick thought, keeping his lips firmly together. If Judy noticed his reticence, she did not mention it.

“We’ll see what happens tomorrow. If McD gets on the stand first, he’ll probably wet himself, and this will be over very quickly,” Nick said. “In any case, the inquiry will result in a recommendation, which will probably be followed. For no other reason, to assign blame. Especially if the recommendation is sufficiently unpopular."

Judy was summoned to testify the following day.

“Good morning. I am Judge Bean. As you can see, this,” the ram gestured around the room, “is not a formal courtroom, and I am not a criminal court judge. However, I have been selected by the City Council to preside over this inquiry because I am, and I will be, fair and impartial.” He was well known and somewhat trusted in the community. Everyone in the room expected him to be fair, but they weren't sure yet what that might mean. 

The meeting hall had been chosen for its proximity to 101 Main Street more than anything else. The room could comfortably hold one hundred medium-sized mammals like sheep and wolves. Today it held twice that many, and several larger mammals as well. There was a sheep stenographer near the front of the room, on the left, recording everything. The judge sat behind a table next to the stenographer, and there was an empty chair a few feet from his left hoof. There was a bailiff, a rhino, by the door on the other side of the room, and a row of empty chairs outside the room for witnesses who would be waiting for their turns to speak. 

Officer McDermitt flinched slightly at the word ‘inquiry.’ As members of the ZPD, Officers McDermitt and Bison could not be charged with an alleged crime that may have occurred while they were on duty in the same way as a civilian might be charged for an alleged crime at any time. Depending on how this went, the officers expected to either be cleared and returned to duty with a day off, or they expected to be removed from the ZPD and next face a grand jury and criminal charges.

They are seated near several other cops in the front row, and all the witnesses were currently in the room. Most of the cops, including McDermitt, Bison, and Fang, had chosen to sit in a row in the front of the room. Chief Bogo stood near the rhino by the door and Officer Hopps stood near him, but remained unnoticed due to her size. All the police present were in their dress uniforms. Most of these had not been worn since graduation from the police Academy, so some uniforms fit better than others, but nobody said anything about it. Hearings like this were unusual, to say the least. Officer Wilde was not present. 

“You will address me as ‘your Honor’ or ‘sir’ in order to demonstrate respect for this inquiry and the recommendation that will be made. My decision will take the form of a public message to Chief Bogo and Mayor Lionheart.” 

“I’d like to be clear about a few things,” the judge continued. “First, I require adequate silence from the audience. You may talk among yourselves briefly, but do not speak when a witness is speaking, and do not speak when I am speaking. Second, the members of the audience are here at chief Bogo’s request. No one will say later that this inquiry was done in secret. Third, I’d like to keep this relatively informal. Officers McDermitt, Bison, and Hopps will speak for themselves without a lawyer as a filter. Witnesses may, and will, be questioned by myself and possibly by other participants with permission. Witnesses are expected to tell the truth.

“We will start with a list of the facts. Ian Flem was found dead at the scene, 101 Main Street, having been shot by Officer Bison. Mr. Flem, when examined by the scene of crime specialists, had a gun, a bag of drugs, a key to his apartment, a wallet, and $9 in cash in his possession,. There was residue on the handle of the gun, on the outside, but it had not been fired recently. The gun was an appropriate size for a wolf. Officer McDermitt did not have a backup weapon, but he did have an empty holster. Officer Bison had a backup gun in his holster on one leg. No money was taken from the store and no items were taken either. 

“Examination of Mr. Flem indicated, first, that he was shot one time by Officer Bison’s gun, second, he died from this injury to the front of his chest, and third, that he didn’t have any transfer from whatever was on the gun on his clothes, and forth, his pawprints were on the gun, but not the ammunition. It is possible that he had only recently acquired the weapon and it was loaded at the time. The police have been unable to determine where he might have gotten the gun and unable to determine any previous owner of the weapon. 

“These are the facts as seen by this court and agreed to by all parties. This inquiry will attempt to determine the truth or falsehood of the statement and evidence in dispute. The witnesses, except for Officer Hopps, will wait outside until called.” 

The crowd murmured as most of the witnesses left the room, but the judge called for order. The crowd went silent again. 

“Right. We’ll start with Officer Hopps. Come up here stand in the chair so we can all see you. State your name, rank, and years of service for the record.” He and Bogo had discussed the precise way each officer would introduce themselves. 

“Officer Judy Hopps. One year of service. Supervising Officer,” she said. She stood in the wolf sized chair, and did not sit. She leaned forward very slightly. 

“Officer Hopps. Did you or did you not hear Officer McDermitt say ‘dumb bunny’?”

“I heard Officer McDermitt say ‘dumb little bunny believed us’. I notified my supervisor, Lieut. Fang, after he arrived a few minutes later.”

“Officer Hopps. Do you believe the crime scene was tampered with?”

“Yes, sir. I believe the crime scene was probably tampered with by Officers McDermitt and Bison because of what I heard Officer McDermitt say.”

The crowd murmured more loudly this time. The judge allowed it briefly. “Quiet down.” They did.

“Do you know, without doubt, that the crime scene was altered?”

“No, sir. I did not see tampering,” the rabbit replied. Her body was not moving, but held more or less perfectly still. 

“Have you had trouble in the past with Officers McDermitt and Bison?”

“I have not had trouble with Officer Bison. I have had trouble with Officer McDermitt. I first met him when we were partners assigned to protect a Nova Ferocian ambassador. There were some problems with the way he did his duty,” Officer Hopps replied.

“Were you his supervisor? Did you report him?” 

“No sir. I did not,” the rabbit said. If she was bothered by the questions, she didn’t show it. Her ears were straight up and she faced the judge directly. 

“Do you believe you are holding a grudge against Officer McDermitt?”

“No sir, I am not holding a grudge,” she paused. “We are not friends. I have been told that he is holding a grudge against me.”

“Are you absolutely sure what you heard?” The ram asked, again trying to get the rabbit to express some sort of doubt. 

The rabbit paused, and then she said, “yes, sir, he said, ‘dumb little bunny believed us.’”

“Officer Hopps, please return to your place. Officer McDermitt will now come in and have a seat,” the judge said, motioning to the bailiff by the door. Officer Hopps didn’t sit with the other officers, but instead went to stand against one wall. 

The wolf entered the room and sat as requested. “State your name, rank, and years of service for the record.” 

“Patrol Officer Todd McDermitt. Seven years with ZPD.”

“Officer McDermitt,” the judge asked. “Do you have a grudge against Officer Hopps?”

“Yes, I have a grudge! She’s been out to get me since day one.” 

“What did you say? On that day?” The ram asked the wolf. 

“Sir? I don’t understand,” the wolf said, trying, and failing, to look confident and relaxed. One paw came up and touched his nose, briefly, but then he caught himself and put his paws back in his lap. 

“You know perfectly well what I mean. Did you say anything before Officer Hopps turned around and looked at you and your partner?” The judge asked, squinting his eyes slightly. 

Now the wolf’s paws were moving in his lap, apparently rubbing on his trouser legs. “I, ummm, I said she was a dumb little bunny.”

"Why were you wearing an empty holster that morning?"

"I had taken my weapon out earlier and then forgot to replace it," the wolf replied. He had started to speak before the question was finished. 

“I see. Please take a seat with the other officers.” 

“Bailiff, please ask Officer Bison to come in.”

The door opened, and a buffalo in a patrol officer's uniform entered. He was not as large as Chief Bogo. “Officer Bison, have a seat here and state your name and years of service with the ZPD,” the judge said. 

“Officer Brett Bison, 18 years,” the buffalo said, after taking his seat in the appropriate chair near the front of the room. His body was mostly toward the audience, but he turned his head and shoulders to address the judge when questioned. He turned back to the audience each time he answered. 

“Remember what I said about the truth?”

“Yes sir,” the buffalo replied. He looked very calm, and sounded very sincere. Like this whole thing was just an unfortunate misunderstanding that would soon be cleared up. 

“Tell us what happened that morning.”

“My partner and I got the call just before 9 AM. We were nearby, so we hit the lights and siren and got there in two minutes. We saw a wolf, that would be Mr. Flem, exit the store; he looked at us and then he ran.” He gestured to the right. “We usually go in with lights so the would be criminal will stop what he’s doing as he tries to decide what to do next.

“We stopped the car, got out, and told him to freeze. He stopped, but when he turned around, there was a gun in his right paw,” Bison gestured with his own right hoof.

“He pointed the gun at us, so I fired.”

“You had your weapon out already?” The ram leaned forward slightly, resting his paws on the table in front of him. 

“Yes sir. I typically draw my side arm every time I exit my vehicle on robbery calls like this. We tell the suspect to stop, they see us, and the weapons, so they usually stop.”

“But this one did not?”

The officer nodded. “He had the gun in his paw, and pointed it. Maybe he didn’t mean to? Maybe he forgot he had it? I don’t know. I had to make a snap decision. Saw the gun, so I fired,” the buffalo said, again gesturing with his right paw. He looked and sounded like he regretted the decision. His body language while seated was very open, with his paws out from his sides as much as possible. 

“Did you or your partner tamper with the crime scene?”

“No sir,” the buffalo replied, calmly. 

“Did you or your partner say anything to, or about, Officer Hopps while she was talking to members of the crowd?”

There was some murmuring from the crowd and someone shouted “Hearsay!”, but Judge Bean called for silence. “Yes, I know what that word means, but I also know that mammals, including Officer Hopps, heard something, so I’d like to know what she may have heard. Officer Bison?” 

“She had asked us some questions when she first arrived, then she spoke to the otter who owns the place, and then the crowd. I understand she was reassuring the crowd that everything was okay now that we had arrived.”

He seemed slightly puzzled. Nobody commented, so he continued.

“Anyway, so my partner doesn’t like Hopps much and he didn't think she'd hear him. He says, kind of under his breath, ‘dumb bunny’. That's what I heard. And that’s what Hopps must have heard because she looked around and glared at us.”

“Okay, that’s enough. Take a seat,” the judge said, and Officer Bison went back to sit near his partner. 

“Chief Bogo will take his place.”

The chair was too small, so the police chief merely stood next to it. 

“Chief Bogo, please state your name, rank, and years of service for the record.”

“Police Chief Mason Bogo. 30 years of service with ZPD.”

“Chief Bogo. What is the standard operating procedure when one of your officers arrives at a robbery scene? Is that officer expected to have his or her gun out and ready for use?”

“SOP is clear on this matter. If there’s been a shooting, arriving officers are expected to have their weapons ready when they arrived at the scene. However, arriving officers do not always know if the suspects are armed. If the suspect is armed, arriving officers may have to use their weapons. If the suspect is not armed, arriving officers will not be expected to use their weapons.” He made it sound simple. 

“Why did Officers McDermitt and Bison have lethal weapons instead of tasers?”

“Officers McDermitt and Bison have enough experience and training to be qualified for lethal weapons. New officers will typically be issued a Taser until they have been on the force longer than three years. Or the officer is promoted to supervisor rank. Supervising Officer Hopps may use a lethal weapon if she chooses. However, she has chosen to keep her Taser.”

“So, it’s up to the officer in question?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Bogo replied.

Both the judge and the police chief knew what the SOP was. However, most of the members of the crowd did not. This exchange was primarily for their benefit.

“Why might an officer choose the Taser instead of a lethal pistol?”

“The obvious answer would be that a tazer is not a lethal weapon. Ideally an officer would never have to use lethal force,” Bogo answered. 

“Why might an officer choose a lethal pistol instead of a Taser?”

“Tasers do not always work. Sometimes thick clothing can prevent a Taser from functioning properly.” 

“Very well. You may return your place or have a seat in one of the larger chairs. Lieutenant Fang will take your place here.”

The buffalo went back to his place by the door and another wolf in a blue uniform entered the room to replace him near the judge. 

“Lieutenant Fang, please state your full name, years of service, and rank for the record.”

“I am Lieut. White Fang. I have been a member of the ZPD for 10 years. I am supervising Officer Hopps’ supervisor.”

“Thank you. Please tell us about the events on that day.”

“I was already on my way to the scene of the attempted robbery when Officer Hopps overheard Officer McDermitt’s comment. I was not present and so I did not hear it. Officer Hopps told me what Officer McDermitt said before I arrived. I believe her,” the wolf said. He was alternated looking at the judge and at the audience. 

There was some commotion from the audience that ended when Chief Bogo grabbed two mammals and pulled them outside. McDermitt snorted, and then tried to cover his face when Fang looked at him.

“Quiet,” the judge said. “I did not ask if you believed her, but I appreciate your candor and I believe your opinion is relevant. You then informed Chief Bogo who then requested this inquiry?”

“Yes sir. That is correct….”

****************************************

More hours passed and the inquiry ended for the day. The fox and the bunny again found themselves at the diner. 

Judy told Nick what had happened as they ate.

“Carrots?” The fox asked when Judy finished, “I think you should prepare yourself for the judge determining that there is not enough evidence to prove wrong doing. The City Council is covering its bases by going through the motions and the citizens have probably been calmed significantly by the various official looking activities taking place. Very few of them know what happened, and now they see all this legal stuff, so they’ll accept whatever comes of it. ” 

“There was at least one other witness,” she replied. “He is just afraid to come forward.” Bogo had listened when Hopps had told him about the weasel and when Wilde told him the name of the mammal, but the buffalo had waved a hoof when he found out that the weasel continued to refuse speak publicly. 

“Doesn’t matter what you heard the weasel say. If he won’t stand up and say it in front of the other witnesses and the accused, we have to go with what we have and what the public sees, which is circumstantial evidence and the word of two veteran officers against the word of one new supervisor with a grudge against the accused.”

"I'll talk to the weasel again," the fox said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, this is not the way these things are done, but I would say my excuse is that Zootopia doesn't have the long history of this sort of thing that we do. The ZPD isn't seen in the same negative light as some real world police departments, and, as an author, I really do prefer to have an optimistic general setting.


	3. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The problem, or one of them, anyway, with committing crimes in public is that people see you do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the next day.

The room was not as full today. The cops were all still there, and in the same places, but it was no longer standing room only for the civilians. The police chief was back by the door again, but Officer Wilde was sitting behind the other officers.

“Okay,” Judge Bean said. “Let’s get started. It’s 9 AM. I see several mammals in the audience that might want to speak, but first, Chief Bogo has informed me that a unique witness has come forward.”

This caused a stir and some discussion in the audience, which the judge mostly ignored. He did raise his voice, however.

“Bailiff, invite Mister Lobo to take the chair.”

The door opened and a wolf entered. He was dressed in the same manner as most of the other residents of this area. His clothing was cheap, but practical. He looked afraid but determined, and he was careful not to look at the cops. Most of the cops.

“Oh, shit,” Bison said. McDermit merely looked confused.

“State your name and age for the record.”

“Louis Lobo. 25 years old.”

“Tell us what you saw,” the judge invited.

The wolf hesitated and looked at one of the cops in the second row, and then turned to the ram. “I know that Ian Flem didn’t try to rob that store.”

“How do you know?” The judge asked. He already knew, because both he and Chief Bogo had spoken with this mammal, but things like this have to be repeated publicly.

“It was me, okay? I tried to rob the place. Heard the sirens and ran out of there.”

“Which way did you go, after you left, and did you see the police car? The officers?”

“I went to the right. That is my right. I saw the cop car turn the corner at the next block and head toward me. I didn’t see it stop or anyone get out. I remember there was another wolf about to enter the store. He looked young. I’m not sure, but it might have been Ian Flem.”

The crowd reacted, making more noise. “Silence,” from the judge. “Do you know Mister Flem?”

“No. Just some kid from the 'hood, you know? Never actually met him.”

“Do you have any knowledge about him having a gun?” The judge asked. 

“No. I have no idea if he had a gun. I just know he wasn’t holding a gun and I saw his paws. I remember that. And I would’ve seen a gun.”

Officer Bison’s face was blank, but McDermitt was scowling. He tried to get his partner’s attention, but he was waved off.

Judy was near enough to hear Officer Bison say, “not in here. Save it for later.”

“Have you spoken to Chief Bogo about this?” The judge asked.

“Yes sir.”

“Did he offer you a deal in exchange for your testimony?” The judge asked. He knew the answer, but he wanted the audience to hear it too.

“He said things would go easier, if I confessed. Nick kind of hinted that he appreciated it. That is, Nick Wilde. Officer Nick Wilde.”

The crowd reacted again, murmuring.

“Did the officers say that you would not be punished for attempted robbery if you came forward?” The judge asked.

“No. But I expect it might help.” The wolf was looking more and more relieved now the hard part was over. He had not thought about what some of the officers might think of the testimony today, and so he was glad that he might get off lightly on the attempted robbery. 

“Very well, you may-”

“Your Honor?” One of the officers asked. “May I ask Mister Lobo a question or two?”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you know Officer Hopps? Has she arrested you in the past?” The fox asked. 

“Yes. You were there. We had that misunderstanding about that job and my brother and I were going to discuss it with you. We were discussing it with you. Officer Hopps arrested us,” the wolf replied.

“Job?” The judge asked.

“He served six months for that your Honor,” the chief said.

“So, the point here is that you have no reason to do Officer Hopps any favors?” the judge asked.

“Yes sir,” the wolf said. “I can’t say I like her much, but I don’t like what happened to Ian Flem either.”

“Does anyone else wish to question this witness?” The judge looked at Officers Bison and McDermitt. Officer Bison shook his head. He was trying to look calm, but his body language had become more closed and he looked more tense. Most of the members of the audience were too busy either talking to each other or texting to ask questions now. 

“Very well, you may step down, and return to the audience or wait in the hall outside. I understand Chief Bogo will be speaking to you later?”

The big buffalo nodded. The wolf walked past him and then out of the room. He would wait in the hallway. 

“He saw the patrol car, and he saw Flem outside the store at the same time. There was no time for Flem to enter, and then leave the store. He probably froze when he saw the car, and then turned to run after he saw Lobo go the other direction,” the judge said, thinking out loud. Again he looked at Officers Bison and McDermitt. Again those officer said nothing.

“This is not proof that Mister Flem was unarmed, but it is far more likely. It is possible that Mister Flem was going to rob the store, but saw the cops, and try to run away. In that scenario, he was running because he had the gun in his paw.”

“Mister Lobo did not see a gun,” Chief Bogo said from near the door. He was pointing out the obvious, but he was pointing it out so that it would be written down.

“No, but he might not have. It’s not a large weapon,” the judge replied. “At least not when compared to you and me. It’s a fairly large weapon for a wolf. And it was large enough for Officers McDermitt and Bison to see it as soon as they got out of the car.”

“But they’re trained to look for things like that,” Chief Bogo replied. He was playing devils advocate. Officers McDermitt and Bison appeared to be too stunned to be effective at defending themselves, so Chief Bogo had assumed that role.

“Are there other witnesses?” The judge asked now.

There was silence, and then another voice.

“Yeah. I’ll tell you what I saw, okay?” This time it was a weasel that spoke.

“Take the seat,” the judge invited, glancing at Chief Bogo, who shrugged. Neither the judge nor Chief Bogo had spoken with this weasel before today.

The weasel stood in the chair like Judy had. “I am Prince Weasel. 28 years old. I haven’t spoken up before because I don’t want any blue uniformed thugs paying me a visit for wall-to-wall counseling.”

“My officers won't do that,” Chief Bogo said. “They better not.” He sounded calm, but several cops flinched. Bison still looked calm, but McDermitt was even more agitated now.

“Go ahead,” the judge invited.

“What the rabbit said yesterday was true. I saw those two,” he pointed at officers McDermitt and Bison, “plant a gun on Ian Flem. It’s the gun from McDermitt’s holster. Bison’s backup gun was too large. I saw them do it.”

“Did they see you?” The judge asked.

“Do I look like I’ve been beat up? They didn’t see me. I wanted to keep it that way,” the weasel said. He looked like he might be regretting his decision to speak today. He looked in Officer Wilde’s direction, angrily.

“Why should we believe you?” McDermitt asked. It was clear that he was trying to sound confident, but he lacked the acting ability of his partner, who was currently trying to ignore the wolf in blue.

“It’s the truth, dumb dumb,” the weasel replied. Several members of the audience laughed, and then they went back to murmuring. 

“I see. You may step down. This inquiry is in recess until 2 PM,” the judge said over the noise.

The crowd was more agitated now. Wilde moved immediately to stand near the weasel, but Bison and McDermitt did not move, or not immediately. After a moment, Officer Hopps also joined the weasel and the fox. They escorted him out of the building.

“You guys just got me killed, you do know that?” The weasel said. His pupils were larger than normal and his paws shook, very slightly, so he jammed them into his pockets. 

“You won’t be harmed, you have my word and the word of Chief Bogo,” the rabbit said.

“Carrots, we can't make promises without-” Nick began. 

“Nick, we have to-” Judy started to say, at the same time. 

Both the rabbit and the fox paused when they were interrupted, in turn, by the weasel as they left the building. 

“Listen to him" the weasel said to the rabbit, pointing at Nick. "I’m gone,” and the weasel slipped away. No officers followed him.


	4. Justice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, what would you say now, if you were the judge?

The inquiry resumed at 2 PM. Unlike this morning, the space was again packed. Everyone went silent when Judge Bean started speaking. As usual, his voice was loud in the room and every mammal could hear him. 

“Until this morning, I was thinking in terms of damage control. A citizen was shot, which is very unfortunate, but he was armed, so the responding officers had probably done the right thing. I was going to ask the chief to publicly apologize, and then not recommend discipline for the officers in question.

“Now? We all heard the wolf and the weasel witnesses today. Now I can only conclude that Officer Hopps actually did hear “dumb little bunny believed us” and not either “dumb bunny”, as Officer Bison said, or “dumb little bunny” as Officer McDermitt said he heard.

“Yes, I was paying attention,” the judge said, in a kind of quieter aside to Officers McDermitt and Bison. Then the judge turned back to the rest of the room.

“So, that suggests Bison and McDermitt were lying, and supports the statement of the weasel, that a gun was planted.”

The ram paused again, looking at the row of officers sitting behind McDermitt and Bison. “The chief said it, and I’ll say it. If that weasel ‘falls down the stairs’?” He used air quotes with his fingers. “There will be consequences to whichever officer or officers that did it and make no mistake. I will be checking in a week or a month.”

Bogo, standing next to Hopps, grunted and shifted his stance, but said nothing.

“We expect a great deal from the ZPD. We expect them to take control of a bad situation and make things better. We expect the ZPD to make everything okay. We expect them to punish the guilty, and show mercy to those who are innocent. They have the training and experience that we do not have. They fight the battles against crime that we never could. We expect justice with mercy. We expect...." Here he paused, and lowered his voice. 

“We do not expect our police to break the laws they are sworn to uphold,” the ram concluded. The room was utterly silent now. 

“Officer McDermitt and Bison. Before I announce my findings and my recommendations, do you have anything to say?”

“It was all his idea!” The wolf officer shouted. 

“Todd. Shut up. Just. Shut up,” the bison said. He sounded tired, and he did not look at his partner. 

“No. You said it would be OK. You said they would never know. You said-“

The room exploded in noise. 

“Silence!” Judge Bean said. 

“Officers McDermitt and Bison. This inquiry has examined the evidence in question and heard the witnesses. I have determined that you did, in fact, conspire to plant evidence at the crime scene. That you did, in fact, conspire to conceal this. You did impede an investigation. This court does not believe the shooting was premeditated. That it was likely an accident. But you planted a gun,” the judge said. “And so any thought of leniency must be put aside.”

The citizens in the room reacted in various ways, and the judge called for silence and made eye contact with the bailiff, who nodded. 

“These are my recommendations. Todd McDermitt will be removed from the ZPD because he planted evidence. Bison will also be removed, and the District Attorney's Office will consider charges against him."

The ram looked at McDermitt and Bison again. “If you had admitted the mistake? If you had not lied repeatedly when asked, here, in this room? Then I would have recommended administrative leave, with pay, or some sort of desk duty, temporarily. I would’ve told the community,” and here he looked back out at the audience, “that it was an unfortunate mistake. Because that is what it would have been.”

“But you tried to conceal it, which makes it wrong. This inquiry is closed.”  
\-----------------------------------------------  
“How’s your brother?” Nick asked. He had found Louis Lobo waiting for him outside after the wolf had spoken to the Chief. 

“You know perfectly well how Lonnie is. You got him that job at the factory, right?” Nick nodded, and the wolf continued. “He’s still limping.”

“Hey. It wasn’t me that did that,” the fox replied. “And it’s not like he didn’t have it coming after he pulled that knife."

“Yeah, sure,” the wolf said, uncertain, as another officer joined Nick. 

“What’s this about?” Delgato, asked. 

“My brother and I had an altercation with Nick Wilde before he became a cop. Officer Hopps stopped us. My brother was injured,” the wolf replied. 

“They were going to cut me. Hopps stopped them,” the fox said. The big cat looked a question at him, so the fox continued. "Served their time for that." 

The big cat nodded. “I remember it, vaguely. Alley fight, right?” Nick nodded. 

“And thanks for not holding a grudge,” the wolf said. “One of the docs told me that he had been in contact with you?”

“What’s the point of having contacts if you don’t use them?” The fox said. "Catch you later." 

"Let's hope not," the wolf said, leaving.  
\---------------------------------------------------------

“Proud of yourself, Officer Hopps?” The question was not unexpected, nor the sneer in the tone of the word ‘officer’. It had come from an officer Judy barely knew. 

“No. I am not. A citizen, Mr. Flem, is dead. We failed him. We serve and protect, or we are supposed to,” she replied. Her tone was more regret than the arrogance the zebra had expected. The rabbit's paws were on her hips, as she faced the larger officer. "And that's Supervising Officer Hopps."

Nick rejoined her as the other officer left. Many of the cops avoided making eye contact with the rabbit and fox, but some did not. Officers Wolford and Fangmeyer nodded, as did Lieutenant Fang and some others. However, some cops, including Supervising Officer Morgan, glared openly. Nick only nodded, but Morgan stopped.

“I expect you're feeling chuffed now, but see who comes to help if you need it. You don't rat out your own kind,” the ram practically spit. 

“You know that’s not fair to rats-” Nick started to reply.

“Shut your arse, Wilde. I am a supervising officer and you’ll show respect,” the ram replied.

“And so am I,” Judy said, staring at Morgan. 

The ram was far larger than the rabbit, but Judy showed no more fear this time than the last time she saw him.

“You’ll get yours,” Morgan said, and walked away.

“What a breath of fresh air,” Nick said, to no one in particular.

Judy looked at him and could not decide what he meant. Finally, she shrugged. “Let’s get back to work. The mammals of Zootopia are depending on us.”


	5. Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not everyone thought hearing from the citizens at the inquiry was a good thing, and one of them decided to do something about it.

A few days passed, and Nick got a text message while he and Judy were out on patrol.

“Let’s visit the hospital, okay?” Nick asked.

“Someone we know?” Judy asked. She had not heard of anything recently, and she was always finding out who was in the hospital and why. It was usually someone’s wife, or husband, or child, and usually something minor. 

“Yeah,” the fox replied. He did not elaborate and the rabbit decided it must be something serious. She also decided to wait and get the details when they arrived. 

“Officers?” The nurse greeted them at her station on the fourth floor, near the elevators. “You’re here to see the weasel?”

“The-“ Judy started to say, but Nick replied. 

“Yeah. He’s awake and ready to have visitors?” The nurse nodded, so the partners walked down the hall to room 403 to find a doctor in there already. The fox stood by the foot of the bed and the rabbit jumped up on a chair. 

“Prince? What happened?” Judy asked, shocked. Nick said nothing. 

“I fell down the stairs,” the weasel said. He certainly looked like he had, with a black eye, broken arm and leg, and probably other, less obvious injuries. 

Officer Judy Hopps looked at the zebra doctor, and the doctor shook his head the way large equines do, moving the back of the head back and forth and not moving the snout any more than necessary. “No way,” he said, so softly that only a rabbit would hear. 

“Who did it ?” Judy asked, looking at the weasel. 

“I said, 'I fell down the stairs,'” the weasel repeated. “Please leave.”

The fox and the bunny left.

“You know who did it,” Judy said. It could have been a question, but it wasn't. She was staring out the front windscreen of the cruiser. 

“Yeah. But I don’t know if I want to tell you,” Nick replied. He knew what her answer would be.

“You will tell me.”  
\--------------

The next day, Supervising Officer Hopps ran into Supervising Officer Morgan in the gymnasium. 

“I heard you went to see your weasel friend in the hospital. He tell you what happened?” The ram asked. 

The word choice and the tone indicated idle curiosity, so the rabbit replied, “he says he fell down the stairs. We'll find out what really happened.”

“Maybe in a million years. If it was me, and I’m not saying it was, I would’ve put the fear of God into that weasel. Told him what would happen if he told anyone what I did to him. Told him I'd do it again.”

Judy stared at him. “Did you just-”

“No, rabbit, I didn’t admit it,” Morgan replied, smirking. “I was speaking hypothetically.”

Nick walked over, having been in the restroom. “I heard it was a ram that did it,” the fox said.

Some of the other officers were starting to take notice. Pausing in their own exercises, or no longer jogging around the perimeter of the room, but now standing nearby.

“Is that what you heard, fox? Well, somebody had to do it. Weasels can’t go around shooting their mouths off like that. Not if it’s against one of us.”

“But when it is the truth?” The rabbit asked, sounding overly controlled. Her ears were fully up now, and focused on officer Morgan. The fox could smell her rage and was not surprised.

“Oh, no, you don’t, Officer Rat. I won’t have you twisting my words when you hop and tell Bogo.”

“So you didn’t do it?” Nick asked. “That’s good to hear. Figure you couldn’t do it anyway. Bet you couldn’t find the hospital.”

“He’s in room 403, dumb ass, and I’ll find him again if he changes his story.” The ram stared at the fox.

Now the room was entirely silent.

“Judy, did you record that?” Nick asked.

“No. Like he said, it’s not something I should be telling Bogo. But, I think Morgan I need to go a few rounds in the ring.”

The ram smirked. "I’d hurt a cute little bunny like you.” He had never actually seen her fight, and today was his first day pumping iron in the exercise room, at this time. He had recently gone to a different shift. Judy was not normally here at this time of day.

“Dude, don’t-” A lion officer started to say, trying to warn the ram off.

“Dude? I’m no 'dude'. I’m a gaffer,” the ram said angrily.

“Like me?” The rabbit asked.

“Better than a numpty like you,” the ram replied. “Far better than you. I know how to deal with criminals. I know what they need, and it isn't coddling." 

The rabbit jumped into the ring, and waited. “Put in your mouth guard and show me.”

The ram entered the ring, but didn't bother with the guard or pads of any kind because the rabbit wasn't wearing any. “I’m going to enjoy this,” he said. 

“No, I doubt that,” Nick said, watching. “Higgins? Get a medic would you?"

"And maybe a dentist," the fox muttered to himself under his breath. 

Fifteen seconds later, the ram in the ring was down on the mat, bleeding from the mouth, and looking for some of his teeth. One of them had landed outside the ring, and Nick picked it up and put his pocket. He knew someone that needed to see it. 

The room was silent except for the sounds coming from the ram as the rabbit left the ring and walked over to where Sergeant Bambi was standing. The deer had shown up only in the last few seconds, but not to exercise, and not without being warned.

“Is there a problem, Sergeant?” Officer Hopps asked.

“Not from me if you tell Chief Bogo what just happened. Need me to come with you?” The deer asked.

“Follow me or stay here if you like,” the rabbit replied. "Makes no difference to me." She picked up a towel, draped it around her shoulders, and left the gym. The buck and the fox followed.

When they got to the chief's office, the rabbit knocked. The buffalo said "Enter!" and then she and the buck went in. Nick waited outside. 

"Clawhauser just told me that an ambulance has been requested to take Officer Morgan to the hospital. Would either of you happen to know anything about that?" The chief asked. 

"I knocked some of his teeth out, sir," the rabbit replied, after jumping up on one of the chairs in front of the desk. She didn't sit down. 

"Of course you did. Want to tell me why? Or should I just assume you found out what happened to Prince?" 

"I found out, and then Morgan started bragging about it," the rabbit replied. The buffalo looked at the deer, who nodded. 

"Bambi, wait out side. I assume Wilde is out there?" Hopps nodded, and the chief continued, "I need to talk to Officer Hopps alone."

The deer left, and the buffalo was silent a few seconds. Then he said, "I'll have to do something about this, you do know that? Some sort of disciplinary action, possibly demotion, is called for."

"Yes sir, I understand."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's it for this story. I have at least one more, and I'll try to start that one next week. My chapters are short and simple, so I don't tend to need much time to prepare them.

**Author's Note:**

> This is yet another Judy story. I think I'll start writing Nick stories eventually.


End file.
